Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - He Stole a Tank - The San Diego Tank Rampage

Episode Date: June 29, 2025

In May 1995, a disgruntled and mentally unstable Army veteran named Shawn Nelson stole a 57-ton M60A3 Patton tank from a National Guard armory in San Diego, California, and went on a 23-minute destructive rampage through city streets. Nelson, a 35-year-old unemployed plumber battling personal and financial troubles, used the tank to crush cars, fire hydrants, traffic lights, and utility poles—causing widespread panic and blackouts.

So a battle tank rampages through the streets of San Diego destroying everything in its path. Why? Well, it all starts with this guy, Sean. And Sean is in his 20s, he's in the Army, here's an actual picture of him, and in the Army they teach him to drive tanks, and he likes driving tanks, makes him feel good. But see, Sean, he's kind of an angry dude, and he's a little nutty. So in 1980, after only being in the military for two years, boom, they kick him out due to multiple disciplinary problems. And so he moves back to his hometown of San Diego,

and there he becomes a plumber. And it's not driving tanks like he wants, but this is a pretty good job for him. But even so, over the years, his whole life starts falling apart. Like his plumbing business is failing, he eventually starts drinking a lot and getting into drugs, specifically meth. His wife leaves him, then he later gets a girlfriend and she breaks up with him and moves out. And at one point someone steals his work van, which has all his plumbing tools in it, so now poor Sean can't work, and the bills are really starting to pile up. And as you can imagine, this is all too much for Sean to handle. He's starting to feel hopeless and powerless.

So what does he do to deal with all this hardship? Well, he gets a shovel, and he starts to feel, digging for gold in his own backyard. I guess he believes there's gold back there for some reason and that this gold is going to change his life. Now, it's unclear if he believes this because of all the meth he's using or if it's mental illness or what. But what is clear is that Sean is becoming delusional. Regardless, he keeps digging and digging and digging. And he's all excited about the project Like he's going around telling his friends and his neighbors how rich he's going to be and how there's probably a bunch of other valuable stuff in his backyard too, like oil and minerals and stuff.

And of course by this point, his friends are getting really worried about him like, you're all right, bud. But whatever, Sean continues to dig. And eventually he's dug a giant 17 foot deep hole in his backyard. And this hole is so deep that he has to put up temporary walls so that it doesn't cave in. Here's actually a picture of Sean's brother climbing out of it, and you can see that he has to use a ladder. That's how deep it is. Anyway, I guess at some point, Sean realizes this digging, it isn't going to solve his problems.

Because his problems actually get much worse. By 1995, he's around 35 years old now. He's having major financial issues. I guess he's broke and he's not paying his bills because his lights get turned off. His water also gets turned off. And at one point, Sean gets a letter telling him that his house is about to be foreclosed on. And so, once again, Sean feels hopeless and powerless. Like, what's he going to do now?

His business is failing. He's got no money. There's no gold in his backyard. And that is when Sean just snaps. Because one day, that same year, he gets an insane idea. He's going to punish the entire city of San Diego for all the bullshit he's been going through. First, he drives to a nearby National Guard armory. And the place is closed, but some guys are still there working, and for some reason, they left the gate wide open and

unattended. And so Sean just drives right on to this secured military compound with no problem. And he parks, and he gets out, and he's wandering around the base. And at this point, he's high on a bunch of meth, and he's got no shirt on. So he very much looks like a lunatic. And there's There are guards around, but for some reason they don't try to stop him. They don't even try to approach him. I'm not even sure if they notice him. Now remember, Sean used to be a tank driver when he was in the military. So naturally, he heads over to where the battle tanks are parked and he sees that there

are like 10 for him to choose from. So he climbs up on one and he jumps inside and he tries to start it, but it won't start. So he tries again. He goes to a second tank, jumps inside. this one won't start either. So he starts climbing onto a third tank. Now it's at this moment that he's finally spotted by a guard and the guard looks at him and he says, hi. And shirtless high on meth Sean is like, hi. And that's it. Like the guard doesn't say anything else to try and stop him. So Sean just keeps going. Like he climbs down into the tank, presses the big push to start button,

and this one starts right up. And so off he goes to start this incredible tank rampage. And boom, he smashes through the fence and he drives off the base and into the streets of San Diego and this whole ass military tank. And of course, people notice. And so pretty quickly, someone sees this and they call the police. And they're like, there's a military tank rolling down the street.

And police are like, do what now? And so immediately police cars are on the scene and there's like a dozen of them. trying to chase Sean down. However, it's not long before they realize that they're not equipped to take on this military vehicle built for war. This thing could easily crush their squad cars. And so, as they try and figure out what to do, Sean just keeps going, causing all kinds of chaos.

He's smashing into parked cars and, like, flattening them. He rams through a stoplight pole and drags it along with him as he drives away. He intentionally runs over a fire hydrant, which cuts off water to the local residents. And police, they just look foolish even trying to stop him. I mean, look how easily this tank tears through this trailer. This guy's in big trouble. Yeah, that's putting that mile away. He's doing these cars on purpose. And so Sean, he appears to be loving this, like he sticks his head out of the hatch so people can see him like all smiling and laughing. I mean, this is probably the best he's felt

in years. Like, who cares if he's broke? Who cares if he can't find gold in his backyard? He's driving a motherfucking tank. Finally, he no longer feels hopeless and powerless. Meanwhile, police, they're over here freaking out. They're like yelling at pedestrians to stay back and stay away from the situation so that they don't get hurt. And so this whole chaotic scene goes on for like 23 whole minutes. And in that time, Sean has destroyed over 40 cars and caused all kinds of damage to the city, and he has no intention of stopping. And so it looks like there's nothing police, or anyone really, can do about it. Until.

At this point, Sean decides to take this chase onto the highway for some reason. Maybe he's going to a new city, I don't know. But of course, police follow him. Once he's on the highway, he's there, he's cruising along, as fast as this tank will go, and suddenly, skirk! He loses control, and he swerves to the left, and kaboom! he hits the center divider and the tank gets high centered on that concrete divider there and now Sean is stuck.

And so police finally have their chance. And so they act fast and boom, they swarm the accident and they climb up the tank and they break open the hatch. But Sean, he isn't ready for this rampage to end. And so he starts revving the engine, rocking the tank back and forth, trying to get free and knock all the police officers off of it. But he can't seem to shake them off in time because suddenly, Pow, police bust through the hatch.

But Sean still isn't stopping. And so, blam! An officer shoots him, and he ends up unalived.